introduction

all Sony FE lenses to date are weather-sealed

Sony G master series of lenses are premium pro quality lenses with resolution to a 50 lines per mm standard instead of 30mm or less and optimised bokeh, in addition, have dust and moisture resistance, and also dedicated control buttons like AF/MF and Focus Hold

AF lenses

Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G

announced May 2017

'Direct Drive Supersonic Wave Motor' AF motor; no filter thread;

internal focus; fluorine coating on the front element of the large extreme aspherical element; 7 blades;

Sharpness is good across the field even at maximum aperture but there’s some field curvature/astigmatism that’s more noticeable at the long focal lengths causing some image degradation, similar sharpness to the Canon equivalent but not as sharp as the Nikon f/4

Distortion is little higher than expected, not so much at the shorter focal lengths but at the longer-end, where the lens has noticeable pincushion distortion from around 24mm onwards

CA is most noticeable at 16mm, not only in the corners but as a donut-shaped ring in the center of the field, much more than the Canon and Nikon equivalent lenses

Sony FE 16-35mm f/2.8 GM

announced May 2017

fluorine coating on the front element of the large extreme aspherical element

smaller with much less vignetting, coma and star distortion than the Canon EF 16-35 f/2.8L III but lack's the Canon's mechanical MF ring with its infinity marking, making it a nice option for astrophotographic landscapes of the Milky Way1)

when used with a slide in filter holder, there will be vignetting at 16mm but should settle by 17mm; while sharp at f/2.8 edge to edge, optically is best at f/8-11, while sunstars are best at f/16 - perhaps one of the best lenses for sunstars, helped by the excellent flare control 2)

Zeiss Batis 18mm f/2.8:

announced April 2016

11 elements in 10 groups, and four of those elements are aspheric on both sides

dual AF system: two focus groups at either end of the lens are driven by different actuators. A ring drive SSM drives the front AF group while dual linear motors drive a floating rear group. The result is fast continuous autofocus and silent AF for video, as well as in impressive minimum focus distance of <1m

special portrait lens with unique circular peripheral ND filter built in which acts as an apodization element which smooths out blur of out of focus highlights to improve bokeh, but which also reduced light transmission by 2 stops so at f/2.8 it is really f/5.6.